More cameras planned for downtown Houma

Thursday

Feb 13, 2014 at 10:32 PM

Visitors to Downtown Houma could be recorded on camera within a year.

Jordan GribbleStaff Writer

Visitors to Downtown Houma could be recorded on camera within a year.The Downtown Development Corp. wants to install 30 security cameras on Main Street as part of a downtown restoration project.“This year the parish will be taking those wooden poles off of Main Street and putting nice metal decorative poles in their place,” Main Street Manager Anne Picou said. “We've asked the Engineering Department to put a mechanism on each of them so we can put cameras on them. Our goal is to have cameras on all of the new poles.” A downtown camera installed on a utility pole in the parking lot by the Roussell Street Bridge has demonstrated its value, Picou said.“There hadn't been any vandalism in that area when we put the camera in,” she said. “Our goal is to get all of those parking lots to be as secure as possible for citizens.”Cameras also help Houma Police solve more serious crimes.“The first thing we do when there's a crime like a shooting is check to see if we have a camera installed in the area where the crime occurred,” Police Chief Todd Duplantis said. The camera records activities that have occurred within the past month, making it easy for officers to check for a specific incident, even when they are unable to constantly monitor the stream.“We don't have anybody to watch the cameras 24 hours a day. We don't have the manpower for that. But if we do have some crimes within an area that has a camera, we can go back and view it. It assists us in solving crimes,” Duplantis said.

Staff Writer Jordan Gribble can be reached at 857-2208 or jordan.gribble@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGrib_Courier.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.